How to hook up your SEGA Genesis – Model 1

This page will show you the various ways to get your SEGA Genesis 1 up and running!

SEGA Genesis – Model 1

Ports and Connections

CH3-CH4:

This switch is used in conjunction with the RF OUT port to pick which channel will display the game.

When you use an RF box to connect your game system, the game will display on either Channel 3 or 4. You should try and use a channel that does not have a local TV station on it for minimum interference, but really either should work just fine.

RF OUT:

This port is used with the RF Converter box to hook the unit up via your cable/coaxial connection on the TV. One end of the cable has a standard 1/4″ plug (to the Genesis) and the other end is a coaxial cable that screws on the TV CABLE IN connection.

SEGA A/V OUT:

This port is used for the SEGA Composite RCA AV Cable (red, white & yellow)

NOTE: The Original Genesis does not output sound in Stereo. So many RCA AV cables will only have 1 audio plug (Red, or White) not both. In this case you should plug the audio cable (regardless of color) into the White port on your TV, as most TVs will recognize you only have 1 sound cable plugged in (mono) and still output the sound from both left and right speakers, which is better than having it only come out of one side of the TV.

SEGA GENESIS AC ADAPTOR:

This is the power supply port for the SEGA MK-1602 AC unit.

EXT PORT:

This port was never used by SEGA, and was eventually removed. I think there is an audio mixing kit for development that can be used, but I’m not sure.

1/8 Headphone Jack to Stereo RCA cable:

This port is used to pump stereo sound from your games out to your TV or Stereo. The AV port on the back does not output stereo audio. This is very noticable on a game like Sonic the Hedgehog, where everytime you grab a ring, the sound jumps from right and left in stereo. So use this option whenever you can for the sound, Heck! you could even use headphones if you want! Don’t forget to turn the VOLUME KNOB up when you do use this.

The SEGA Genesis (Model 1) has two different ways to connect to your television.

RF: the cable box that was packed with all the units, but provides the worst picture quality. You should only use this method if you television does not have RCA available.

COMPOSITE RCA: this provides the best picture quality available from the SEGA Genesis and is what GameTrog recommends.

METHOD #1 – RF Connection

What you will need:

SEGA Genesis

(Original model MK-1601)

SEGA RF Box

SEGA MK-1602

AC Power Supply

1/8″ Headphone Jack to RCA Stereo

(optional)

This is the method that most of you will remember if you were born before the 80s. It was the staple method of hooking game systems up to a TV starting with PONG and still used for the XBOX and Playstation 2 (never do this). It is by far the worst way to go for picture quality. The reason being is that all the video and audio signals are compressed into one coaxial cable and jammed in to the TV, letting the television split it apart on its end. This causes a fuzzy picture, often accompanied by rolling lines! But if you only have a Coaxial input on your TV, what else can you do? Let’s begin.

STEP #1

Plug the SEGA RF Box cable into your SEGA Genesis. You use the cable with the end that just plugs in, not the end with the screw on it.

STEP #2

Attach the other end of the SEGA RF Box to your television cable port. (see diagram) If you are currently using this port for your Antenna, Cable or Satellite TV, and you only have one port (unlike the diagram), unscrew the cord, screw in the RF box, and then screw the TV Cord to the port supplied on the RF box (shown on bottom of illustration). This way your TV source will continue to work.

STEP #3

Change the CH3-CH4 switch to desired channel. The channel shouldn’t matter. This channel would be your TV’s tuner channels or local channel, not a cable or satalite provider’s channel. On your TV’s INPUTS this is normally refered to as AIR.

STEP #4

Plug the SEGA 1602 Power Supply into the back of the SEGA Genesis.

STEP #5

Plug the SEGA 1602 Power Supply into the wall.

STEP #6

Plug in a game and turn on the SEGA Genesis, even if you don’t see it on the TV yet. You should see the power light on the SEGA Genesis light up (a good sign) and doing this first will help in finding the right TV settings, when you’re searching for the right channel or input and you see the game, you got it right!

STEP #7

Turn the TV to the channel you picked on the back of the game system. If you have a newer model TV, you probably have several INPUTS SOURCES available from COMPONENT, VIDEO 1 2 & 3 and so on. If this is the case you will most likely need to change it to AIR, which you may also have more than one option (AIR 1 or 2 or A and B, as shown on the above diagram). To change to these different video signal options, you usually have a INPUT or SOURCE button on your remote or television. If everything went right (and your game works…) you should be in business!

STEP #8 (optional)

This step is optional but will give you stereo sound from your Genesis. Using the RF with this may be a little tricky since the RF cable is sending both video and sound (mono) to your television. BUT, if you plug your 1/8 Headphone Jack to Stereo RCA cable into the headphone jack on the front of the Genesis, you can then plug the RCA (Red & White) cables into any available ports on a stereo system. The back of a stereo’s various input options would look similar to the TV diagram above. It doesn’t matter which one you use (Phono, Aux, etc…) just pick an open one. You would then need to set the stereo system to that output (normally an INPUT switch on the front of the stereo) and turn the TV volume down. So you would just be using the RF box for the video to the TV and be running the sound separately to your stereo. A bit convoluted but it’s the only option. You couldn’t plug these into a spot on the TV because to play the game you would need to be on the AIR INPUT which does not have a place for separate AUDIO IN. And if you used one of the other spots on the TV (Video 1, 2, etc…) and switched your TV to that INPUT, you would not get the video being fed to AIR. Whew! I hope that makes sense!

STEP #9

Now play some Streets of Rage!

METHOD #2 – RCA Connection

What you will need:

SEGA Genesis

(original model mk-1601)

SEGA Genesis Model 1

RCA AV cable

SEGA 1602

AC Power Supply

1/8″ Headphone Jack to RCA Stereo

(optional)

This method will give you the best picture quality you can get from the SEGA Genesis. It is the method you should use whenever possible as the improved image quality over the RF connection, is very noticeable. So let’s get started!

STEP #1

Plug the SEGA Genesis Model 1 RCA AV cable into your game system.

STEP #2

Attach the other end of the RCA cable to your TV. You could have multiple options available like on the diagram. You can place it in any one that is not in use. YELLOW is always the VIDEO and should be plugged into the YELLOW port. RED and WHITE (right and left respectively) are the sound and should be plugged into the proper color for the cable. In the case of the SEGA Genesis Model 1 System you will probably only have 1 audio cable as it does not output stereo sound. If you plug it into the WHITE port (even if the cable is red) your TV will probably play the MONO sound out of both speakers. If you plug it into the red only, the sound may only come from the RIGHT speaker of your TV or sound system (lame). Some TVs will not do this. If your TV is one of them you can buy a splitter from Radio Shack that you plug the single audio cable into and it has 2 outputs (RED & WHITE). It still won’t be true stereo, but it will at least be coming from both speakers.

This Genesis does however, output stereo audio from the headphone jack on the front. More on this below.

STEP #3

Plug the SEGA 1602 Power Supply into the SEGA Genesis.

STEP #4

Plug the SEGA 1602 Power Supply into the wall.

STEP #5

Plug in a game and turn on the game system on even if you don’t see it on the TV yet. You should see the power light on the SEGA light up (a good sign) and doing this first will help in finding the right TV settings, when you’re searching for the right channel and you see the game, you got it right!

STEP #6

Turn your TV to the appropriate VIDEO SOURCE. You probably have several INPUTS available from COMPONENT, VIDEO 1 2 & 3 and so on. In the diagram above you would need to change your TV to VIDEO 1. To change to these different video signal options, you usually have an INPUT button on your remote or television.

STEP #7 (optional)

This step is optional but will give you stereo sound from your SEGA Genesis. If you plug your 1/8 Headphone Jack to Stereo RCA cable into the headphone jack on the front of the SEGA Genesis, you can then plug the RCA (Red & White) cables into left and right audio ports on the back of the TV in the SAME input you plugged the video cable. All you need to do is NOT plug in the audio cable that is attached to the video cable, just leave it hanging loose like the diagram.

STEP #8

Enjoy some classic gaming goodness, like ECHO The Dolphin!

Well, those are the basics. If you have any additional questions, feel free to send us an email. The Trog is always happy to help!